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ORT Federation's Chairman Speaks
As Southern Regional Chairman of the American ORT —
Federation, I welcome this opportunity to join in the 100th I
Anniversary celebration on behalf of ail of the chapters and!
members of Men’s ORT. I
To briefly review; ORT was founded on April 10th, IMO in i
Czarist Russia for the purpose of alleviating Jewish poverty. !a fl
time it created schools for the instruction of needy Jews in crgftsl
which would afford them a new means for the dignified support I
of themselves and their families. I
Since then, under pogroms and persecution in more thanrthfl
countries throughout the world, even in the ghettos and death I
Greetings from Region President
How exciting for me to be able to say “Shalom’’ to you as
Region President I consider it a privilege to he able to serve in
Ibis spei nil I >K I year, the year ol ll re I Doth tnrthdav ol World
As we prepare lor the celebration of OKI’s milestone
( entenmal in Jeiusalcm in May, we think back to the handful Bo®^' VSf s ‘
ol lews who petitioned the Russian ( Var to begin a vocational ,V 'S*
training program to free Jews of the Shtetl. .
As the world has changed, OR I has changed with it OR Ps IW sBE 8 ! f
unique ability to respond to the needs ol out people in their H . *,
unending snuggle lor survival and lulhllrnent distinguishes it as fa -J-& !
a mtproment in Jewish life.
We in Women’s American OKI can be proud of our BUEraffiPL ■ -
contribution! to the ORT program. Not only do we contribute BBBPNMhEs
large sums of money to the World ORT Union, we have directed our energies and
attentions to new arci; of involvement. The Bramson ORT Training Center in New
York was created largely because of the prodding and commitment of Women’s
American ORT. This school, now running almost to capacity and already accredited
as a Junior College, stands as an example of effective technical education as it offers
new career alternatives to our young people right here at home.
As we look forward to our second century of service, we mutt ask women
everywhere to identify with our organization and the philosophy which meets the
needs of our people and our times. I would like to invite every Jewish woman in
Atlanta to join our ranks by becoming a member of Women’s American ORT.
Bunny Taratoot
Region President, Women’s American ORT
ORT In Israel: The new ORT School of Engineering k rooted in the needs of Israel, ns
economy and its youth. Studies include electronics engineering, data processing and
computer technology.
ORT IN NEW YOBK: ORT dd* helped W«ld War II refaceeshegfa new face fa Ufa,
where it makes a remarkable contribution from eknetilaty^^^^^^®
through college level education of trades ranging from secretarial skiHs to advanced
electronics, maritime and engineering training.
Few organizations live to celebrate their 100th birthday. The reason why ORT is
celebrating its Centennial in 1980 may be a combination of a Jewish tradition and a
Chinese proverb. The Jewiah tradition is baaed on Maimooidcs; The highest form of
help (Tzedakah) is to inch a mu a trade. The Chinese proverb says that if you give a
man a fish you help him for today; bat if you teach hhn to fish, you brip him for life
It is interesting to note that a few months after the first ORT appeal for funds, and
in fact even before the program had been named ORT, it was predicted that this
“Charitable Fund” would have “bestowed importance for centuries.” Now, in 1980
ORT is starting its second century. Needless to say, there ate very few organizations,
Jewish or otherwise, which were around in 1880 that ate still alive and relevant today.
In 1980, ORTs Centennial Year, the largest single-country program is in Israel,
and Israeli leaders freely acknowledge ORT* contribution to the upbuilding of the
Jewish State. From teaching traditional nineteenth century skills—tailoring,
carpentry, barrel making, and so on in 1880, in 1980 ORT will be teaching not
twentieth centurv skills but, those of the twenty-first century—electronics,
communications, computers—to young people who will be spending most of their
working lives in the next century.
1 urge you to become a part of these unique programs by joining your fellow Jewish
brethren as a member of ORT. On this page is a tear out coupon which will bring you
the details of how you too may participate. Please mail it back today, to help insure the
Looking to the future
ORT's future is now
By Mrs. Beverly Minkoff,
President Women's American ORT
and rejuvenation of Jewish community life. In
France, which has received the flood-tide of
Jewish immigrants from North Africa and
where the task of integrating the newcomers
into the mainstream of society is a vital one; in
Latin America, where the Jewish populations
of a half dozen countries are in urgent need of
the vocational and technical education
provided by ORT and in similar need of
vitalizing influences; in Italy and in India and
Morocco and everywhere in the world where
ORT schools operate, we find that the quality,
cohesiveness and integrity of Jewish life
improves—and y will go forward in this
By Sidney E. Ldwant,
President American ORT Federation
was 64,000 last year. Well over 70,000 will be in
ORT schools in Israel this year.
Not many weeks ago, a new school was
inaugurated in a suburb of Paris, named
Choisy-le-Roi, as the latest addition to an
extensive educational system that has been
created to serve the more than 700,000 Jews of
France, the great majority, of whom are of
recent North African origin. AH ORT schools
in France are terribly overcrowded. They must
grow just to keep puce with the growing North
African Jewish families.
There ate two ORT schoafain New York.
One of the fundamental principles of the
ORT movement since its inception in 1880, is
the refusal to glory in past achievements, to rest
on the “laurels of the past,” but rather to look to
the future and to make ■■mmmmmnm■
provisions for l hc
demands ihai il will
iiK-vn.ibls hung Indeed,
li.im ihe vns moment it
hum. ( 1R I has been r’SiPiV
geared to the lulurc to m^/Tv. ‘‘V
t he lulurc su r v i v a I.
v* cite*rc And cmei uciu.t* <»/
rhe Jewish people all over
the world. 1
ORT's magnificent ■I
network of schools in v j
Israel, which is the -j
largest single ORT
program in the world, with nearly 100 major
installations and 70,000 students enrolled this
year, plays a crucial part in building the nation's
economy and contributing to its socio
economic welfare. Women’s American ORT
will strive, with even a greater intensity than in
the past, to enrich and expand the scope and
nature of ORT-lsrael so that this magnificent
network will be able to meet the pressures that
are certain to be placed on it in coming years
and respond fully to the opportunities which
will come in the wake of the peace agreement
with Egypt.
In the countries of the Diaspora, ORT views
its schools as vital forces in the strengthening
On its 100th Annivenary, far from looking
backward at work done, ORT is poised in a
forward thrust. Integral to the vicissitudes and
events that have marked the path of the
Jewish people duriag mhw—'
these last ten decades, Up -a|
ORT reaches its Cen- 'E
tennial ready to serve L W
wherever the need arises B^
and to do so in an utterly
, Here on thq'hhmc scene, as the fastest
growing Jewish organization in the United
States, WAO intends to broaden and intensify
its current activities in all areas of Jewish
concern. We will-continue to confront each and
every manifestation of anti-Semitism. We will
continue to create an arena for the attraction of
our young people, drawing them away from the
pernicious and insidious influence of the cults.
We will continue to increase our involvement in
the communities to form coalitions with educa
tors, community leaders and industry, so that
the public schools will provide quality education
for youth to be prepared for the world in which
they will live, with special emphasis on
revitalizing and upgrading vocational and
technical education.
Thas, in each sphere of Jewish concern, here
and abroad we will strive to make ORTs
second century an even more remarkable one
than was the first.
Southern Regional Chairman, American ORT Federation
litis should not be
a hopeful
vision of things to come. ^BH
The future ORT is ^B ^B
now. The ORT of the
eighties and beyond is certain to be a force for
continued Jewish social and economic change.
Consider a few facts that are essential to an
objective assessment of ORTs role in Jewish
life in today's world.
Last year, there were enrolled over 98,000
men, women and youth in every kind of ORT
vocational and educational project, ranged in
24 countries across the Jewish map. Projections
indicate that some time in the first quarter of
I960 the I00,000tb student will take ins place in
an ORT program in Buenos Aires, or Paris, or
Casablanca, or Tel Aviv, possibly Jerusalem.
The proportion of those served in Israel,
overwhelmingly in the high school age bracket,
enhance its curriculum in order To
accommodate additional young adults and to
broaden their occupational and professional
opportunities.
Looking back at the 70s, ORT schools
around the world graduated 2S0l,000 skilled
craftsmen and technicians, the largest portion
of them in Israel. The prospect is that ORT
during the 80s will send into the workforce over
30,000 a' year, salvaging thousands from
poverty and backwardness and enriching the
lives of the individual and his community.!
ORT is today the largest, system of Jewish
day schools in the world. For tomorrow {the
watchwords are growth, change and upwdrd-
boun^ standards of studies for high technology
occupations. Today’s students of ORT will be
at their peak working age in the year 2,000. The
future of ORT is now.
wk&uca.
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AND STILL THE REFUGEES COME: For Jews who survived the nmnnhclliio camps and the new g m fa
Hotoeamt—the Phplawd Ptew—OBT docccs faCcn—y, Atria end Italy (left) wi pwparartna far Ststes,abo
I wish to Join Women’s American ORT. Basic dues $10.
I wish more information on The American ORT Federation.
Name
Hundred Years Long
day, times, places, occupations, equipment, all have changed,
but ORT—the Organization for Rehabilitation through
Training—is still a bridge to the future for tens of thousands
Founded in Czarist Russia in 1880 to
ricultural occupations” to men and v
poverty
Mail to: Women’s American ORT
1644 Tally Circle, #130
Atlanta, Georgia 30329
;ty. To- throughout die world.
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